UNC-TV
Background: UNC-TV (short for "University of North Carolina Television") is the statewide PBS network affiliate for North Carolina, owned by the University of North Carolina. It went on the air on January 8, 1955 via its flagship station WUNC-TV in Chapel Hill as an NET affiliate. In 1970, it became a PBS. Overtime since its launch it would sign on more transmitters to cover all of North Carolina. In the late 1970s it began calling itself North Carolina Public Television. It adopted the current name UNC-TV in the 1990s. 1st Logo (1955-Mid-1960s) Nickname: "The Flags" Logo: Just a gray background with four flags, arranged like a cross. On the flags are (and in all caps): 'W'OMAN'S COLLEGE 'U'NIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA 'N'ORTH CAROLINA STATE COLLEGE 'C'HANNEL 4 TELEVISION FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: None. Music/Sounds: None, though this logo had an announcer of some sort. Availability: Extinct. Was only used as a local ID. Scare Factor: Low. 2nd Logo (Mid-1960s-1971) Logo: TBA FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: TBA Music/Sounds: TBA Availability: TBA Scare Factor: TBA 3rd Logo (1971-1979) Nickname: "Patriotic UNC TV", "Eyesore UNC TV" Logo: A giant blur zooms out on a black background, via a "rollercoaster" effect. When it gets to the center of the screen, it's revealed to be "UNC TV" in a rather ugly font (and colored purple and lime) in the flash. "UNC" slides upward and "TV", downward, at which point, "presents" fades in. FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: Off the charts! Early Scanimation effects. The logo is very ugly, due to the poor choice of color scheme and font. Music/Sounds: A synthesized harpsichord jingle, with a bassoon sounder at the end. Availability: Ultra rare, bordering on extinct. Woodwright's Shop episodes of this era should still have this logo. Scare Factor: Medium, for the logo looks ugly. This still isn't as bad as the next logo... 4th Logo (1979-1983) Nickname: "Bronze S", "UNC-TV of Doom", "S from Limbo", "The S that Isn't as Hellish" Logo: We see the words "North Carolina" in a white outlined Antique Olive font zoom out and flash, turning into the words "The UNC Center for Public Television" surrounded by several blue outlined words written with the same message. The central words dissolve away to reveal a transparent stylized "S", which contains two pairs of 2-tone tan lines arranged in an "S" shape similar to the Screen Gems logo, and the outer words fade away to make room for some lights to make an Smore visible. "Presents" flashes in below, and the "S" shines with some point lights. FX/SFX: The Scanimate/chyron words, the model S, and the flashing... Cheesy Factor: ...which are very typical of a late '70s logo. Music/Sounds: It starts out with a rising sawtooth wave sound, then ending with a 9-note synthesized harpsichord fanfare. Availability: Rare. It's seen on episodes of Woodwright's Shop, which are still aired to this day on UNC-TV affiliates. Scare Factor: Medium to high. The music and logo designs really aren't that friendly. 5th Logo (1983-1990) Nickname: "Multi-Square Lights" Logo: On a black background fading into a navy blue-black gradient background (opposite from the black-blue gradient backgrounds you see in the WTTW, KOCE, and WXXI logos; and much like the one in the Parade Video logo), a pink square shoots out to the right, and an orange square shoots out to the left, while many other squares, colored pink, blue, green, orange, etc, flash on screen to form the words "North Carolina Public Television" in the same font as before, arranged vertically to the left of the screen. Finally, a few more pink squares flash on the logo. Variants: * A variant in 1988 on a "TV Worth Watching" promo shows the UNC symbol zooming out before a slower version of the logo forming and then the squares flash in a different pattern. The logo is cut halfway with clips of local shows. The station ID also had the logo played without the symbol zooming out or has the logo just flashing the squares, which also appeared on programs. * A variant exists where pink squares flash two times in between, and is darker. FX/SFX: The squares zooming out and flashing to form the words. Cheesy Factor: '80s computer effects. Music/Sounds: A three-note xylophone tune, then three wooden drum beats. Music/Sounds Variants: The variant had a different theme in which there is a xylophone jingle, followed by a single "donk" sound, four xylophone notes, and two more deep notes. Sometimes it might just cut out the jingle. The promo has the "TV Worth Watching" theme. The other variant had two extra beats. Availability: Rare. It can be found on old Woodwright's Shop episodes and was also used as a station ID. Scare Factor: None. Much tamer than before. 6th Logo (1990-1992) Logo: Against a shady dark blue/sky blue wall background with a shiny reflective floor, the same "S" from the 4th logo , but surrounded by a circle, turns to face us. The words "NORTH CAROLINA PUBLIC TELEVISION" fade in below, and "Presents" flashes in at the right. Variant: A still variant used at the end of some shows had a yellow 2D UNC logo on a blue/black gradient background (very much like the one in the 3rd Simitar and Video Treasures logos) with "Produced by North Carolina Public Television" in the center and a copyright date below. After that, the copyright date would fade out and "in association with" would appear just below the name, followed by the next logo. FX/SFX: The model S turning, "Presents" flashing in. Music/Sounds: A three-note synth tune with a "bling" as "Presents" flashes in. Music/Sound Variant: A low-tone version of the music exists. Availability: Uncommon. Seen on NCPTV-produced programs from the period. '90s episodes of Woodwright's Shop would be the most likely episodes to find with this logo. Scare Factor: Minimal. 7th Logo (1992-1995) Logo: On a medium goldenrod/dark red/bluish-gray/orange ethereal BG with several streaking lines, panels, and ripples, we see "University of North Carolina" and "PRESENTS" below, all in silver. Then, a yellow rectangle streaks by from right to left, leaving behind another line below it "TELEVISION" fades in on it in black. Variants: * There is a variant used at the end of shows. Against the same background as the opening variant (more or less), we see the text "Produced by University of North Carolina". Below that is "CENTER FOR PUBLIC TELEVISION" on a mango/orange gradient rectangle. * An earlier opening variant has the same concept, but one panel wipes in the words "North Carolina Public Television" with the NCPTV logo and "PRESENTS" below inside a black rectangle. The BG also changes to a old mauve/grass green gradient. * When used locally, the logo is at the low-bottom corner. Below fades in "(UNC-TV logo) Learning for a lifetime." * In 1995, the logo had a 40th anniversary banner. FX/SFX: The streaks and ripples. Music/Sounds: A six note synthesized oboe fanfare. Availability: Once again, seen on episodes of Woodwright's Shop of the period whenever reran. Scare Factor: None. 8th Logo (1995-2008) Logo: On a blue background, we see a giant glass square with "University of North Carolina Television", stacked, over the UNC-TV logo, consisting of "UNC" and "TV" in a condensed sans-serif font (possibly Futura), and the UNC-TV symbol between them. There is also a line between the text and the logo, which shines all over. Variants: * There exists a version with a mahogany/copper BG. * Sometimes, there is a brief bit which shows the square turning into place. FX/SFX: The turning and the shine. Music/Sounds: Either a fanfare with drums, french horns, flutes & a harp, or the end theme of the show. Availability: Was seen on various shows produced by UNC-TV, as well as a local ID. Scare Factor: Minimal. 9th Logo (1996-2005?) Logo: On a teal-tinted background with a translucent image of a waving North Carolina flag, a lighthouse's light turning, and the UNC-TV logo, the words "UNC-TV Presents" fade in in blue-violet, along with a distorted white "Presents" in the background. FX/SFX: The background images, "UNC-TV Presents" fading in. Music/Sounds: Same music as the 7th logo. Availability: Once again, seen on Woodwright's Shop episodes of the time. Scare Factor: None. 10th Logo (2000-2006) Logo: On a black background with tiny white dots, some large dark teal & indigo UNC-TV logos slowly turning around, and the words "UNC-TV" in purple (teal for the logo in between), the words "UNC-TV" (white letters with a meadow green UNC-TV logo here) with "PRESENTS..." below fade in. FX/SFX: The fading words, the images in the background. Music/Sounds: Same music as the 7th and 8th logos. Availability: Once again, seen on Woodwright's Shop episodes of the time. Scare Factor: None. 11th Logo (2002?- ) Logo: Against a black BG, a large capri UNC-TV logo surrounded by a rotating compass-like circle comes into view from the left, rippling constantly. Then, we see several telve robin egg blue rectangles containing the cities and station numbers which UNC-TV serves flying across the screen from the right. As the S reaches the center of the screen, it blurs away, causing the words "UNC TV" (with an turquoise-colored S shape in the middle), in violet, to fade in, along with the URL www.unctv.org below. Variant: Prior to 2010, it showed eleven stations. It was changed when the Caton transmitter WUNW-TV went on the air on July 21, 2010. In addition, the ID was remastered in 16:9 high definition. FX/SFX: The "S" coming into view, the stations flying by. Music/Sounds/Voice-over: A march-like tune with strings (actually an excerpt from"Carolina On My Mind") with an announcer saying "You're watching the 11 stations of the University of North Carolina center for public television.". After a while, the announcer then says "Member supported UNC-TV." Music/Sounds/Voice-over Variant: There are some announcer variants used over the years, such as "This is UNC-TV. Learning for a lifetime.", among others. Availability: Currently in use as a local ID. Scare Factor: None. 12th Logo (2007?-) Logo: On a water background, we see two. giant, tilted, blue copies of the "S" from before with rays spinning clockwise. The one on the right overlaps the one on the left. "UNC-TV" (with a green circle "S" in the middle) zooms out to the top. Once it gets close enough,"ORIGINAL PRODUCTION" zooms in. If in 4:3,"A" appears on top of the logo. Otherwise, after that, once it stops, alight passes through the text. Variants: * Sometimes, "PRESENTS" substitutes "ORIGINAL PRODUCTION". * Two shorter closing versions have "UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA TELEVISION" replacing "ORIGINAL PRODUCTION". One has the finished product, while the other has the logo fade in after a second of the animation. This is also seen during funding credits, opening and closing. * The logo may fade out earlier than normal. FX/SFX: The zooming and the rays. Nice CGI. Music/Sounds: An orchestral fanfare with chimes. Availability: Current. Scare Factor: None, bordering on minimal, due to the fast paced zoom out in the beginning, but it's a nice logo. 13th Logo (January 1, 2016) Logo: We see a forest. "UNC-TV" in indigo (with a teal circle S between the words) slides from the trees. "ORIGINAL PRODUCTION" fades in. FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The sliding and the fading. Not much effort put into this logo. Probably the reason this logo only lasted one day, which is New Year's Day of 2016, meaning it's not the way for UNC-TV to kick off 2016. Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo. Availability: Only seen on a "My Home NC" episode titled "BILTMORE: OUR DOWNTON | Asheville, NC". Scare Factor: None. Category:PBS Category:United States